Dish Network has a lot of problems on its plate

NEW YORK -- Shares in the No. 2 satellite company, formerly known as EchoStar, have plummeted 36% since early November, closing Wednesday at $28.05.

"If you contrast EchoStar (Dish) and DirecTV, you have John Edwards' two Americas," says Kaufman Bros. analyst Todd Mitchell.

The anemic economy contributed to lower-than-expected subscription growth at the end of 2007, CEO Charlie Ergen told analysts in late February.

Another factor, though, was a delay in offering additional HDTV channels — especially from local TV stations. Dish and DirecTV already beat most cable operators in transmitting HD versions of national services such as History Channel and HGTV.

Some of the satellites that Dish needs to handle the additional HD load were delayed last year. With launches planned for 2008, the company vowed to offer at least 100 channels in 100 markets by year's end.

That's why many analysts are eager to hear more about the launch in Kazakhstan that went awry late last week. It left a satellite that Dish planned to lease in an orbit that's too low to be useful.

The satellite has enough fuel to boost itself into the proper orbit, but Dish said that might "substantially" reduce its useful life.

"You'd expect it to last 15 years," says Stifel Nicolaus' Kit Spring. "Maybe that will bring it down to 10 years."

Ergen said this week that two additional satellite launches this year mean the HD rollout "will proceed as planned." But he hopes to change TiVo's victory in a patent-infringement case that could force Dish to pay $94 million in damages.